Geoscientists hunt for treasure beneath the earth’s surface

There are untold riches beneath the Earth’s surface awaiting discovery and Rachelle Pinnow is using her expertise to do just that.

Pinnow loved to go hiking when she was growing up in Saskatchewan, keeping her eyes fixed to the ground and searching for treasure in the rocks and shells. “I spent hours and hours outside and had an affinity for just picking things up and looking at them,” she says.

Geoscience studies were a natural fit when time came to attend the University of Regina. But while working on her thesis, she was drawn deeper into the oil and gas sector. “It was a whole different facet of geology,” she says. “I developed an interest and a career from there.”

Pinnow has worked on a number of exploration plays in Western Canada holding shallow methane gas and carbonate oil.

These tracts of land are expensive to develop and involve a great deal of risk. Geologists help resource companies mitigate those risks by predicting the best opportunities for success based on data gathered through drilling.

In her current role as senior geologist with Cenovus Energy in Calgary, Pinnow is involved in heavy oil exploration. Her work includes subsurface mapping, planning, data collection and analysis for the emerging oilsands project in Telephone Lake (formerly Borealis), north of Fort McMurray.

While most of Pinnow’s work is carried out from her Calgary office, she travels to the exploration fields to meet on-site crews and ensure that sensitive data collection equipment is delivering the information that she needs.

Opportunities in geoscience are expanding, says Colin Yeo, president elect of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geologists of Alberta (APEGA).

“Geoscience is critical to the oil and gas industry so there is a lot of uptake in the energy sector, especially petroleum,” he says. “The other area is environmental geology, which encompasses mapping of geological features such as terrain conditions, vegetation and rock formations prior to mining to establish baselines for reclamation projects.”

A number of universities have geoscience programs, including the University of Calgary, which offers a bachelor of science degree in geology with a petroleum concentration. Students gain an understanding of earth history, materials and resources through the basic geology program, says Charles Henderson, professor and head of the department of geoscience.

During their senior year, students concentrate on the oil and gas industry, including methods for interpreting geological materials on top of and up to 3,000 metres below the earth’s surface.

There are promising opportunities for students graduating with a geoscience degree, says Henderson.

“There is a coming shortage of professional geoscientists. Demographics in the industry show that many of those currently working in this area are over 50 and retiring soon so prospects for students are quite good.”

The jobs are also highly satisfying and pay quite well, he says. There are also international opportunities with the larger companies, especially for those with experience in the Canadian oil and gas industry.

Yeo says high school students need to focus on math and science if they hope to enter the field; these are pre-requisites for entry into university science faculties. Having a technology bent is also key, as much of the work is driven by computers.

Pinnow highlights the need for vision and imagination to create maps and make projections. Communication skills are also important as projects may span many years and require co-operative relationships with local communities and governments.

A woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, Pinnow strongly urges teenage girls to give science a chance. “It can take you to many interesting places,” she says.

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